Social and Economic Reforms in Britain

Objectives Identify the social and the economic reforms that benefited British workers and others. Describe how British women worked to win the vote. Understand the causes of conflict between the British and Irish nationalists.

Terms and People free trade – trade between countries without quotas, tariffs, or other restrictions repeal – to cancel a law abolition movement – the campaign against slavery and the slave trade capital offense – a crime punishable by death penal colony – a settlement to which convicts were sent

Terms and People (continued) absentee landlords – one who owns a large estate but does not live there home rule – local self-government

What social and economic reforms were passed by the British Parliament during the 1800s and early 1900s? Between 1815 and 1914, Parliament passed a series of social and economic reforms. The working class and women suffragists were among the many people pressing for change. At the same time, the question of British control over Ireland was becoming a dominant and divisive political issue.

Britain placed high tariffs, or taxes, on imports. Tariffs kept prices high by adding to the cost consumers paid for foreign goods. This helped protect local farmers and manufacturers from foreign competition. Advocates of free trade, who believed in Adam Smith’s laissez- faire ideas, wanted to remove tariffs.

The Corn Laws put a high tariff on imported grains. Corn meant all grains, including wheat or barley. Free traders argued that removing the tariffs would make food more affordable for workers. Farmers and landowners opposed repeal of the Corn Laws. After years of debate, Parliament repealed the Corn Laws in 1846.

Abolitionists called for an end to slavery and the slave trade. In the 1700s, British ships had gained dominance over the Atlantic slave trade. In 1807, Britain banned the slave trade on its ships. In 1833, slavery was outlawed in all British colonies.

Reformers saw injustices in the criminal justice system, notably the number of capital offenses. Reformers limited capital crimes to murder, arson, treason, and piracy. Many convicts were instead sent to penal colonies in Australia. Over 200 crimes were punishable by death—even shoplifting. Parliament passed laws to improve prison conditions, end public hangings ended, and outlaw imprisonment for debt.

In 1842 mine owners were forbidden from hiring women or children under ten. In 1847 the work day was limited to ten hours for women and children. Laws were passed later to further limit hours and set wages for all workers. Reformers began to pass laws to improve the harsh work conditions of the industrial age.

Reformers fought for better working conditions. Strikes remained illegal until later in the 1800s, but over time unions won higher wages and better conditions. In 1825, trade unions were legalized. Unions grew gradually over the 1800s, then membership soared between 1890 and 1914.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, both political parties achieved social reform. Disraeli sponsored laws to improve public health and housing for workers in cities. Gladstone pushed for free elementary school education and merit tests for public service jobs.

The Fabian Society, a socialist group formed in 1883, was an important reform organization. Though small in size, the Fabian Society was influential as it pressed for gradual change in a nonviolent fashion through legislation. In 1900, socialists and workers united to create the Labour Party, which by the 1920s had become a major British political party.

The middle class saw reforms as proof that democracy worked. Social reform prevented Marxism from gaining more than limited support. In the early 1900s, social welfare laws were passed in Britain. Social welfare laws protected workers with accident, health, and unemployment insurance as well as old-age pensions.

Women suffragists demanded the right to vote. Not all women supported suffrage; Queen Victoria called it a “mad, wicked folly.” In the early 1900s Emmeline Pankhurst led violent protests, while others resorted to hunger strikes. In 1918 the vote was granted to women over 30. Younger women got the vote a decade later.

The “Irish question” became a major issue for Britain. By the 1800s most of these settlers were wealthy absentee landlords who did not live on the land. Poor Irish farmers resented these landlords, to whom they had to pay high rents. In the 1600s, British and Scottish settlers colonized Ireland, taking possession of the best farm lands.

In the 1800s, Irish nationalists led by Daniel O’Connell demanded “Ireland for the Irish.” In 1829 they won the right to hold office and to vote. But many injustices remained. Absentee landlords could evict a tenant at will.

The situation became desperate when Ireland was struck by a massive famine. Three quarters of Irish farm land was used to grow crops for export. The remainder was used to grow potatoes, which were the staple of the Irish diet. Then, in 1845, a potato blight, or disease, destroyed the potato crop.

During the “Great Hunger,” almost a million people died of starvation and disease. Landlords continued to export other crops out of Ireland. British relief agencies did little to help. Unable to pay their rent, destitute families were evicted.

Those who could emigrated, mainly to the United States or Canada. Resentment against Britain rose among those who couldn’t leave. In the 1850s, militants organized the Fenian Brotherhood to fight for home rule.

In the 1870s, moderate nationalists rallied behind Charles Stewart Parnell. Gladstone pushed through laws that ended tithing to the Anglican Church and protected the rights of tenant farmers. The Irish question continued to divide Parliament. In 1914, a home rule bill was finally passed, but implementation was delayed by World War I.